'Store Front NYC': James and Karla Murray's new book celebrates iconic New York City shops with pictures that capture a vanishing heritage

The work of James and Karla Murray captures a vanishing (and, in each of these examples, vanished) New York. (Rolando Pujol)

I first met James and Karla Murray in 2011, when, in the pages of amNewYork, I profiled a new edition of their now iconic book, “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York.” 

I wrote back then:

In a city where the shuttering of beloved mom-and-pop shops is greeted with a weary shrug of resignation, street photographers play a vital role in “rescuing”  images of these retail relics before they disappear for real.

Husband-and-wife team James and Karla Murray have become the inadvertent standard-bearers of the photographer-as-preservationist mantel, having documented hundreds of Gotham’s fragile small businesses in “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York.” 

The book happened quite by accident: The couple initially set out in the mid 1990s to document the work of graffiti artists in the city’s far-flung corners. But their gaze was repeatedly redirected to the work of artists of another kind: The anonymous makers of New York’s mom-and-pop storefronts, celebrations of imaginative design, font and color that speak to an era where storefronts were a point of family pride and bland green vinyl awnings were all but unimaginable. 

When they’d go back to a neighborhood after a few months to photograph a graffiti mural again, they’d discover repeatedly that these storefront survivors of an earlier New York were no more. 

“We started noticing that more and more and more, and we said, ‘Oh this is terrible,” said Karla Murray.

The idea for the book was born. 

In the years since, it has been an honor to come to call James and Karla (and their delightful dog, Hudson) friends. Even if you’ve never picked up one of James and Karla’s books, you have undoubtedly seen their beautiful pictures of New York’s classic storefronts on Instagram, or enjoyed their tours of iconic New York spots on YouTube.

Their work blends art and advocacy, the underlying message unmistakable as it is unassailable: supporting independent shops and the people who run them, in New York and communities all around the world. It’s a message I have long embraced in my own work, and chances are you feel much the same way.

Now is your chance to own their latest book “Store Front NYC: Photographs of the City’s Independent Shops, Past and Present.” It’s already available on Amazon, but buying your copy at a mom-and-pop shop seems apropos, and you have a chance to do just that — and meet James and Karla — at their opening reception for the book from 6 to 8 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 21 at Village Works Gallery, 12 St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan’s East Village. Prints of their photographs will also be available.

Below are five photos James and Karla shared with the Retrologist newsletter, along with their captions offering context. Each is an exceptional image, capturing a special moment in time, each storefront in its final days.

Indeed, not one of the storefronts shown below still exists today, though the Cheyenne Diner was saved in 2008 and moved to Alabama.

These photos document a great collective loss for New York and our shared culture. They also represent a stirring reminder of the importance of photographing, documenting, and celebrating small shops.

The photos, when seen in this way, become a call to action, a provocation in the best sense of the word, to support and save these places, both the legacy shops and the ones opening today that will be subjects of nostalgia decades from now — if only they have a chance to survive in a world so inhospitable to small business.

Courtesy: James and Karla Murray

Cup & Saucer, the iconic luncheonette located on Canal Street at Eldridge Street in the Lower East Side, closed after over 75 years in business in 2017 after a steep rent increase from $8,200 to $15,800 a month. This unpretentious spot was founded as a Jewish coffee shop complete with a lunch counter, stools, and a small seating area. Cup & Saucer was co-owned by John Vasilopoulos and Nick Castanos who took over the luncheonette from the second owner in 1988, but kept the same interior and the original signage from the Coca-Cola Company. 

When we interviewed John he told us: “Cup & Saucer was founded in 1940 when the area was the center of the Jewish-owned jewelry trade. But most of the Jewish jewelry places have closed and moved to the midtown Diamond District and Chinese-owned stores have moved into the neighborhood. So we lost most of our old-time customer base and corporate accounts."

Courtesy: James and Karla Murray

The Cheyenne Diner on Ninth Avenue at 33rd Street was in business for 68 years before it was forced to close in 2008. Rising real estate prices caused the business to lose its lease and the rail car-inspired diner structure itself was split into two and moved on a pair of flatbed trucks to Alabama. At the corner spot where Cheyenne once stood, there is now a new condo development. 

Courtesy: James and Karla Murray

M&G Soul Food Diner on 125th Street in Harlem restaurant closed in 2008 after it “went on vacation” and never reopened. We always loved its amazing fried chicken and the gorgeous neon signage surrounded by light bulbs that announced “Southern Fried Chicken” in the most jaunty font and the “Old Fashion’ BUT Good” with the letter “I” dotted with a star. The restauranteur and chef Marcus Samuelsson rescued part of the neon signage but we are not sure of the whereabouts of the other parts of the signage. 

Courtesy: James and Karla Murray

Pearl Paint opened its flagship store on Canal Street in NYC in 1933 and closed in April 2014 after its 11,850 square-foot building was listed for sale for $15 million dollars. Pearl Paint was very significant to New York artists because its location at the edge of SoHo helped to foster the area's transition from industrial warehouses to a vibrant artist community in the 1960s and 1970s. When SoHo became gentrified in the 1980s, forcing many artists to leave, Pearl Paint remained and artists continued to get their fine art supplies at the store.

Courtesy: James and Karla Murray

This Howard Johnson’s was founded by the Rubinstein family and opened in Times Square in 1959 and remained in business for 46 years.  Inside the restaurant were vintage Formica tables, rows of brownish-orange leather booths, and an old soda fountain serving 28 flavors of ice cream. Even though the restaurant was franchised, and by the 1970s there were over 1,000 Howard Johnson’s Restaurants operating in the United State, the original owner, Morris Rubinstein indicated in his will his wishes for his “pride and joy” of restaurants to stay open forever but his son ignored his wishes and the Times Square restaurant’s building was sold in July 2005.